For those who believe mankind needs to re-evaluate and change the roles each one of us plays in our ecosystem of finite resources, to redirect our impact on future generations and their ways of life.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Fighting Hunger, Energy Poverty, Deforestation & Climate Change At The Same Time

How biochar works A nation that destroys its soils, destroys itself. - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained from the pyrolysis of biomass. As the central element of a new and highly promising integrated soil management technique it is capable of halting slash-and-burn farming in the humid tropics by making nutrient-poor, acidic soils productive. As such it offers one of the few sustainable strategies to halt deforestation while simultaneously eliminating hunger amongst subsistence farmers at the forest margins. Biochar doubles as a stable carbon sink, making it a key tool in the climate fight.

Older readers will remember the original "Green Revolution" in agriculture, i.e. using petrochemical-based fertilizers and pesticides. This led to "Silent Spring" and terrible consequences for both animals and humans.